Love Hina Where Silent Gods Stand Guard
by MachineGunMan
Summary: A slightly distant relative to the Urashima's comes in for a visit, initially to give some grave family news, but as life interjects, this visitor may beome permanent.
1. Chapter 1 Funeral Bell

Love Hina – Where Silent Gods Stand Guard

Chapter 1 – Funeral Bell(Don't Fear The Reaper)

"Seasons don't fear the Reaper, nor do the winds, the sun, or the rain...We can be like they are."

Valo Urashima stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to Hinata-sou. He stood there trying to force himself to hurry up and do his job and get the hell out, but he wasn't in any hurry to climb those stairs, either. However easy this job was, is wasn't, in reality. The objective was clear, but the process was not. It was simple...tell the residents of this house that their dearly beloved Grandma Hina had, in fact, passed away. The information given to him about the residents gave him a good idea that his news wasn't going to be taken very well. But he HAD to do it. He had no choice. The old lady in her last moments alive had chosen him personally. So he had to. He looked up from his downward glance to gaze upon Hinata again before he ascended. And as he walked the stairs slowly, but with purpose, it began to rain.

Haruka heard the raindrops falling on the ceiling as she was beginning to leave Hinata on this late Wednesday night. As she approached the door, she stepped over to the nearby window, took her hand and opened the blinds a bit. It was raining, indeed, and getting worse by the minute. She barely noticed the shadowed figure heading up the stairs in this horrible rain, but as she let the blinds go she did a double-take looked again to see who her visitor was.

'_It CAN'T be! Unless Keitaro grew an extra foot and let his hair grow out a bit...NO! It IS him!'_

Haruka quickly threw open the door and welcomed in her visitor. Valo was soaked from head-to-toe from his walk. He didn't seem upset about it, but naturally he didn't want to catch cold, so he removed what clothes he could, and Haruka got him a few towels. Valo sat on the couch across from Haruka in his black slacks and blue long-sleeve dress shirt, attempting to dry himself off. Haruka knew he always tried to dress nice. He was a formal dresser, and a quiet, formal person. Most times. But only to those who didn't care to get to know him.

They sat chatting for awhile, exchanging news and a bit of gossip. As it got closer to midnight, Haruka realized the young man was not here for just a friendly visit. Indeed, hardly anyone in the family saw him much. She knew something was up. She grew silent, then told him what was on her mind.

"Valo, what's the reason for you being here? You don't usually pop-in for the occasional get together. What's up?"

Now it was HIS turn to be silent for a minute. He closed his eyes, let out a long sigh, and told Haruka the news.

She acted as he expected. A bit surprised, a little shocked, but all in all, he knew Haruka well enough to know that the middle-aged woman wasn't prone to emotional outbursts. Plus, they BOTH knew the old lady was exactly that, old. And she had lead a full life, a few times over, actually. As the morning came closer, their conversation slowed to a halt.

"So, where are you staying, Valo?"

"Dunno. I thought I would stop by a Motel or something."

"Nonsense! Stay here with us. But, in case anyone wakes up, I don't want any of the girls freaking out, so we'll get you set up in the Teahouse."

Author's Notes: Just a nice beginning chapter. Not long, not short. Well, a little short, heh-heh. So yeah, more to come, if you guys and gals like. Also, this chapter, as well as the story, is dedicated to 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott of Pantera, and Quorthon of Bathory.


	2. Chapter 2 In This River

Love Hina – Where Silent Gods Stand Guard

Chapter 2 – In This River

"This storm that's broken me, my only friend..."

The funeral service was relatively short. Of course, any person who goes to a funeral, or a wedding, or anything inside a church, really, can feel as though the process is long and drawn out. Such was the case for the Urashima family, and the current residents of the Hinata House. They all, in their own way, cared for Grandma Hina, and there weren't too many dry eyes that day. And most of them, in some way, wanted very much for the service to be over, whether it be frantic schedules (Keitaro, Naru, Seta, and Kanako), school (Shinobu, Motoko, and Su), or the drastic need to leave a place they never felt quite at ease with. The latter statement was true for Valo Urashima. The young man of 24 never knew the place known as 'Hinata'. His father, Keitaro's uncle, had distanced himself from the family once he married and had a child. He chose to do business in more European countries. This made sense, in a way, seeing as his mother was originally from Austria. They never went to too many Urashima family gatherings, and only in recent years had Valo moved back to Japan to search his father's family roots.

Haruka had managed to keep Valo housed in her Tea Shop for three days without incident. Today, the day of the funeral, he came out of 'hiding'. See, Haruka had told the residents that a family member was staying at the Tea House on an important trip, and that they were to not interfere, which was partially true, since he did have to make some final decisions about the funeral, and this was not an easy task. Grandma Hina was very secretive about things, and her death was not to be publicized. She wanted this to be strictly a family and close friends affair. Naturally, Haruka realized the thin ice she was treading on. After three days, Valo finally decided to make his way to the Hinata House to meet everyone. This was during dinner, and Haruka had gone with him to ensure a pleasant trip, which had a 50/50 chance of going over well. In actuality, everything went fine. So many of the small personality glitches everyone was prone to had faded a bit since they had all grown up recently. Plus, Valo wasn't quite like Keitaro. He was much more confident, reserved, and knew how to present himself. And on that very evening, after the food was eaten, questions were asked, and answered, and the night was winding down, Valo broke the news.

Now he was standing outside, in his black suit, looking across the landscape of the graveyard. He stared for a second at Keitaro, the cousin he barely knew, and Naru, his beautiful wife. He caught a glimpse of Seta consoling Haruka. It seemed she had a few more tears to cry, after all. He saw Kanako, her usual reserved self. She, too, had taken time between cell phone calls from Hina's lawyers and overseers of her estate, to mourn her relative. He also saw the current residents of Hinata House. They, too, had lost a grandmother, and it showed. Valo heard the last words spoken for the old woman, and he turned to leave.

As everyone headed for Hinata House, Valo had decided to make a beeline for the Tea House, to pack his things and return...

_'Home? Is that where I go now? I barely know these people, some of them relatives, and I feel the need to run back home?'_

"Hey! Where are you headed off to in such a hurry?"

The voice came from the Bar. Valo turned around, caught mid-thought and by surprise. It was his cousin, Keitaro.

"Why not stay awhile? You haven't been back in ages!"

"Um, Keitaro, I haven't been back 'cause I've never BEEN...period."

"OH, well...that's, ah, strange. Really?"

"Yep. Never had a chance. Didn't really know about the place 'til about a year and a half ago."

"Wow, no wonder I didn't really know you. I knew our family wasn't real close, but GEEZ, this is odd. Still, you should stay for awhile. I'm not always around, and it would give everyone a change. And it may do you some good, since you haven't really gotten to know this side of the family real well."

"You do make a good point. This is a part of my history I didn't really know existed. And I guess living around mostly females CAN'T be too bad."

"Yyyyyyyyyyeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh...ahem."

"Kidding, kidding. What do you think I am, some pervert?"

"Yeah, heh, ya got me there. Hey, did you know we have a haunted building right across from the girls' dorm?"


	3. Chapter 3 And Love Said No

Love Hina – Where Silent Gods Stand Guard

Chapter 3 – "And Love Said 'No'; And Some Of The Places In-between"

"'Kill me', I cried...and Love said 'No'..."

Valo had never talked to one single person about his life this much in ages. He was taken aback at how, after four hours, three changes of scenery, and countless beers later, he still had much to say to his estranged cousin Keitaro. They discussed childhood, schooling, teen years, girls, music, trends, work, family, and gods know how much else. Keitaro was first to take a look at his watch, given the fact that Valo wasn't wearing one, and was a bit amazed that it was already midnight. They had managed to put off a full conversation until after dinner at Hinata House, which wrapped up about 7:30 that evening.

At first it seemed appropriate to begin talking right outside to dorm, on the pseudo-front patio outside the front door...until various residents felt the need to eves-drop and hang around the pair. Then they moved to the bar at the Teahouse, where the drinking commenced, and didn't stop for some time. The final location, seeing as Haruka closed up the Teahouse to ALL visitors at ten o'clock p.m., wasn't really a location...they just decided to walk around the premises.

Now, some may be wondering, how Valo has thus-far avoided the obvious pit-falls of being a male at Hinata. Well, first and foremost, for a few days, as noted earlier, Haruka hid him. And of course, you would think the ladies wouldn't appreciate this, and they didn't really, but once the situation was told in full, it was understood. Secondly, it had been a year or so since Keitaro and Naru had been married, and changes had indeed occurred. Motoko wasn't as harsh on men, especially family. Su had matured a bit...very little, though. Shinobu had matured as well, and besides, she had her eye on a particular guy at school. Kitsune wasn't living there anymore, and visits were more or less few and far between, seeing as her journalism interests had actually paid off recently. Seta, Sarah, and Haruka had been in Japan a few months now, since their trip had been cut short due to legal matters, but Sarah and Su hadn't really been hell-raising as was the usual, since she spent most of her time with Seta, becoming his full-time assistant at Tokyo-U. Keitaro and Naru had actually purchased a house nearer to the University so that it would be easier to travel. Things had changed a bit, and those involved were changing, as well. So it was not much surprise to the Hinata girls to meet a distant relative of Keitaro's. What DID surprise them was his demeanor, which was different for his cousin's, but also made things easier. The young man had a strong sense of character, confidence, and purpose. At his heart, he was an Urashima, but the girls did wonder what else was in his heart. None of them took much from their small inclinations, since they all pretty much figured on his quick departure. So it was with a small amount of hope that they all noticed him talking up a storm with the former 'house pervert'.

Most of the conversation belonged to Valo, since Keitaro was able to pretty much sum up his life in less time than his cousin, who was a year older, and had done more in the time given to him. Not that he had much choice, which was a constant reminder to Keitaro. He was alarmed at how much Valo had done as an afterthought of his father's plans. Valo had, indeed, done much of his living in accordance to his father's plans, which didn't sound as bad as it did. Valo's father never controlled his life, instead Valo merely planned his fun around his dad's work plans. It seemed to be for the best.

Around the second hour of what turned out to be a marathon conversation, the subjects seemed to revolve around things that these two Urashima's had in common. Both had had pretty rotten luck with women, which naturally led Valo to ask about how he had managed to get married. There went a good hour and a half. Towards the end of the evening, it seemed the two were now just making small talk about life again, and about this time Keitaro checked his watch.

"Ah, crap! It's almost midnight!" the former ronin shouted, the shock of the time that had passed helping his sobriety along.

"Well damn." was all Valo could mumble.

"Yeah. This sucks, 'cause I gotta be at the university pretty early." Keitaro complained.

Keitaro noticed Valo not really replying. He seemed to be lost in a world that involved lokking spaced-out while nursing his beer.

"Something wrong?" Keitaro asked. Valo seemed to snap out of his trance.

"No, no. Just...thinkin'."

"About what?"

"Eh, nothin', really. It's just that I realized I have nowhere to be in the next few...well, years, really, heh. Kinda makes you wonder." Finishing his sentence, Valo got the 'gaze' back. Keitaro was a bit worried.

"Hey, everything'll be okay, ya know? Maybe you should just hang out here for a little while, get your head together."

"That may be a good idea, but I just don't want to intrude on you guys."

"But, you're my family, and I own that piece of land, and besides, the girls seem to enjoy you being around. You don't get, um, beat up every day, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Look, stay here tonight, and I'll talk to everyone tomorrow morning about it, but for now, just don't worry."

"Alright, cool. Thanks."

"Hey, no problem. Now let's hurry the hell up and get back to the dorm."

Valo was slightly relieved that Keitaro had taken charge in this situation, and as they walked back, his thoughts turned to his mother, father, all the homes he had known, all the things he had done, friends who had come and gone, and lastly, of a young woman named Karmine, and a life he would never know.

Author's Note: Parts of this story are dedicated to a fallen hero; Darrell Abbott. Thanks for the music, man.


End file.
